However, "Selmasongs" was released back when Björk could still muster a tune and employed production techniques that stretched further than using whistles, human beatboxes and fart noises.
This album is a collection of songs featured on the 2000 feature film "Dancer In The Dark" in which Björk also starred. I've seen the film and thought it was very good. I also liked the songs and bought the CD when it was originally released. This is a 180g black vinyl from 2016 that I ordered directly from her UK record label One Little Independent (as they are now called). The sleeve seems to make a lot out of the fact hat it is mastered directly from metal but I've never noticed the sonic advantages of this.
There are only seven songs on the album but the quality is pretty high. The opening "Overture" is a beautiful orchestral piece that introduces a theme we will hear again in the final song "New World". Like a lot of songs on his album, "Cvalda" utilises 'found sounds' alongside the orchestra. The use of these mechanical noises is measured, imaginative and melodic; they really help define the sound of the record. "I've Seen It All" is a duet that has some fantastic lyrics, but Björk's powerful vocal blows poor Thom Yorke out of the water. "Scatterheart" hints at the sound of albums to come, but unlike those albums, it is quite good.
This album is a bit of a watershed moment for me as it is probably the last Björk album I enjoyed. Everything went a bit downhill from here: "Vespertine" and "Volta" had their highlights but nothing has ever approached this, or more particularly "Homogenic", for consistency and quality. 3/5
